The agreement reached at COP28 is wholly inadequate and leaves the world on a collision course with catastrophic climate breakdown, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on climate and biodiversity, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the consensus reached at the summit in Dubai has been described as historic by Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, the reality is that it falls well short of what is required to limit a rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlatant self-interest by oil producing nations, weak political leadership and a lack of urgency by wealthy countries all conspired to produce a watered-down agreement that does not commit to phasing out fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese talks will never achieve the breakthrough we need until rich countries that have contributed most to the climate disaster face up to their responsibilities. This means providing solid commitments and clear timelines for phasing out fossil fuels, which remain the biggest impediment to achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is only right that wealthy nations should pay the lion\u2019s share of climate finance to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and compensate poorer countries that have been most impacted by climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should seize the considerable opportunities that a growing green economy would bring, from the creation of long-term jobs to lower energy bills and improved health and wellbeing. The most important goal, of course, must be the protection of our planet for future generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven what is at stake, there is nothing to be gained by world leaders dressing up COP28\u2019s failure as a success.\u201d<\/p>\n
December 13, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The agreement reached at COP28 is wholly inadequate and leaves the world on a collision course with catastrophic climate breakdown, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on climate and biodiversity, said: \u201cWhile the consensus reached at the summit in Dubai has been described as historic by Environment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[405,268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n